‘Torpedo’ turns out to be harmless float

By The Nation

 

Photo from: Phuket Gazette

 

An expert with the Royal Thai Navy’s Mine Squadron on Thursday said an item found off Phuket’s Naiyang Beach, which resembled and was initially presumed to be an unexploded torpedo dumped before World War II, was a float for a mechanical minesweeper device.

 

Major Thanchaiyan Tantiamnuay and four other experts from the Mine Squadron inspected the item on Thursday morning for 30 minutes. 

 

Thanchaiyan said it was probably a large float used by a foreign ship’s mechanical minesweeper device used to detect moored mines, which were triggered by contact and held below the surface by a mooring attached to an anchor, during the World War II. 

 

The floats were used to cut the anchor chain to allow the moored mines to surface for disposal, Thanchaiyan said, adding that the device was harmless and the public should not be concerned. 

 

He said an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team from the Royal Thai Army Area 3 would conduct an X-ray as a precaution and then proceed to remove the item from the site possibly for further study.

 

The 4.5-metre-long, 150-centimetre diameter metallic item was found buried under sand about 30 metres off the beach last week. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30329140

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-10-12

. Well, there you go. After hitting the "torpedo" many times with metal spades and hundreds of people allowed to be close to it to observe, it is now a "float". Don't you love Thailand? 

 

A "Paravane".

 

Their initial comments indicated that they probably thought they had got themselves a Howell or Whitehead torpedo from the late 19th/early 20th century:

 

Whitehead Mk1

 

I suppose the paravane had filled with sand and water, giving the impression of the solidity of a torpedo.

 

 

 

 

5 minutes ago, Enoon said:

 

A "Paravane".

 

 

 

Could be "part" of an old vane.

Double post- internet playing up.

1 hour ago, Somtamnication said:

. Well, there you go. After hitting the "torpedo" many times with metal spades and hundreds of people allowed to be close to it to observe, it is now a "float". Don't you love Thailand? 

Yes I love a place where they establish what something is and therefore don't have to carry out an unnecessary controlled explosion.

 

Numerous people on here will be gutted to learn their 'expert' opinions were wrong! 

The RTN protecting Thailand......and these guys are going underwater in submarines??

The floats were used to cut the anchor chain...........

 

Really? Pretty solid then with built-in cutters?

22 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

it was probably a large float used by a foreign ship’s mechanical minesweeper device used to detect moored mines

Or someone sold it to a navy as a torpedo.